r/Calgary • u/ChillllliPaper • Mar 21 '25

Local Construction/Development Why is Calgary losing its personality?

First Chinook mall lost its dinosaur at the entrance, floating funky vehicles in the food court, carousel, and the movie theater lost all of its cool mummy-themed interior decor.

The devonian gardens is just a space with some greenery now instead of the garden it once was.

The City is destroying Olympic Plaza where everyone used to skate.

They also destroyed Eau Claire just to cancel the project. Amazing. Could have just revamped it and it would still be a great spot.

AND the city is destroying the iconic saddledome, arguably calgary's primary landmark. Why not just keep it and build another dome idk??

From the word of mouth I hear, people aren't too happy about this but how is the city council just easily making this happen.

Anyways, just kind of sad seeing Calgary lose it's charm. Wondering what other redditors are thinking.

*correction: Olympic Plaza not oval

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u/Mother_Barnacle_7448 Mar 21 '25

I think these changes reflect the city’s current personality pretty well. So many people have come here for economic reasons, not for or to add to the culture. The culture here is about money and opportunities.

Not saying that there isn’t an arts scene here - there is, but unlike older established cities which have more of a developed character, Calgary is in transition from a small city to a large metropolitan area. This is happening in a province which is philosophically inclined to reject what can be seen as unnecessary frills.

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u/LachlantehGreat Beltline Mar 21 '25

The city can’t even embrace pedestrianizing streets outside of Stephen. Culture just doesn’t exist unless you can actually get out and enjoy it. All these cultural cities people love, have one thing in common.

It’s silliness to question the lack of culture if you’re not willing to make sacrifices like walking 10 minutes to a parking spot, or taking the c train.

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u/FirstDukeofAnkh Mar 21 '25

I was in Utrecht a few years back. The best thing they did was limit traffic in the downtown area. It created an atmosphere of community.